"Professor Zhong, neither you nor Professor Zhu will be attending?"
"That's right. Haifeng heads outside the Safe Zone whenever he has a moment to spare. He doesn't bother with any of this other nonsense. Missing meetings is normal for him, so there's nothing surprising about it. It's just that this time, I'll be absent too."
"Professor Zhu is impossible to pin down, so everyone understands why he won't attend the Thesis Hearing. But Professor Zhong, you're one of the very best professors in the Safe Zone. Why aren't you attending this hearing? The Paper Review Committee hasn't held one on such a large scale in ages. Won't your absence affect your reputation?"
"Reputation? It's of no use to me." Zhong Dingming sighed. "Tianming, you know more or less what my situation is and what I've been through. All I want is to focus on my research and live a quiet, stable life. But every time I've wanted peace, trouble has refused to leave me alone. I'm getting old. Half a lifetime of effort has ended in bitterness and grief, and all I have left is one chubby little boy who's still learning to talk. I don't want anything else to go wrong."
Hearing Zhong Dingming's troubles, Li Tianming remembered his three missing children and his first wife, who had lost her mind. His smile faded. "Professor Zhong, things will get better."
"Tianming, you don't have to comfort me. I know exactly what happened in the past. If things could get better, they would have long ago. That's why I told the Paper Review Committee a long time back that I didn't want to get involved in these matters. I'll also be stepping down as executive director at the end of this year. Old Guan will probably take my place."
"Professor